String Quartet No. 6

Duration: 25'

String Quartet No. 6

In G Major

Op. 101

I. Allegretto
II. Moderato con moto
III. Lento
IV. Lento

The composer, half in jest, told close friends that he had written the Sixth Quartet as a gift to himself on his fiftieth birthday. Composition number - one hundred and first opus! - also contained a humorous hint: exceeded one hundred.

Quartet No. 6 was written in 1956 (August 7–31).

The premiere took place on October 7, 1956 in Leningrad, in the Small Hall named after M.I. Glinka, at the author's concert dedicated to the fiftieth anniversary of Shostakovich. On October 23 of the same year, the quartet was played by the Beethoven Quartet in Moscow, in the Small Hall of the Conservatory.

Recordings:

- Borodin Quartet: M. Kopelman, A. Abramenkov, D. Shebalin, V. Berlinsky 1981 // Melody C10 19535 003, 1983
- Borodin Quartet: R. Dubinsky, Y. Alexandrov, D. Shebalin, V. Berlinsky 1967 // Melody C 01435-6, 1967